Off
by Tojaw
Summary: Ruby is visiting a sleeping Weiss...


**White Rose Week 2019 - Day 5  
Prompt: Loss**

* * *

"Weiss!"

Ruby's voice pierced the silence in the dark room. No, the room wasn't really dark ‒ in fact, the walls were colored bright yellow ‒ but the sun was high in the sky, so the angle of the light falling into it was so large that its bigger parts couldn't be enlighted.

"Weiss," Ruby repeated as she hushed inside and closed the door quietly, "I'm sorry I didn't come yesterday. I- I was busy and...", the girl hesitated, "I -... I was just too tired after that. And -... I think I was just ‒ kinda afraid, I guess. You know what day it is?"

The heiress didn't answer. Her calm breathing was the only other sound in the room, distracting from the monotone humming which was present all the time.

"I don't want to do this. I think I..." Ruby began to sob. A few seconds passed until the girl managed to keep herself together again. She took a deep breath. "I think I just start as usual, okay?"

She forced a smile on her lips as she looked down on her sleeping partner. Weiss' skin was seamless, as always. Only the crooked scar running down her left eye stood out, but it didn't impair the overall impression.

"Well, first of all, we finally managed to rebuild the ballroom. I mean, you know how it looked, or, no, you don't, but when we have seen it, we thought, there is no way we can do that, but in the end, well, I think, you wouldn't notice the difference. Except for the big heart Yang painted on the south wall. That one is new.

"She actually wrote 'B + Y' in it, can you believe that? Blake just rolled her eyes and went on with the tables, but I think she needed that after Sun. We all did, I think. His... It- It just hit us all pretty hard, you know?"

The girl stopped, deliberated, then went on: "Winter visited you yesterday instead of me. I'm not sure if you noticed her because she hasn't said anything. At least she told me that. She also told me that Shitley is currently running the Schnee Dust Company aground. Well, did you expect anything else? She said, your father would be turning in his grave if he saw this.

"Oh, and have I already told you that Nora and Ren will marry? I know, right? I mean, we always knew that they are together, but... seeing it with your own eyes... I'm sorry, I mean, my eyes. But I wish you could see it, too. I wish I could tell you about it... I..."

Ruby felt quiet. She tried to compose herself, to hold back the tears gathering in the corner of her eye. It didn't work.

"Weiss, ... you know this is our last day together. And... there is so much I still want to tell you. I... I just want to spend more time with you, just a little bit. You... why do you need to go so soon? I and you ‒ I mean, you and I, we... There is so much we could do, if... Weiss, I... I just... I..."

She prepared the next words as if these were the most important she could possibly say in her whole life.

"Weiss, I... I... I l-"

The knock on the door interrupted her. "Miss. Rose? It's time."

Ruby visibly lost the inner battle with herself.

"I'm sorry, Weiss. I'm so sorry."

The last words were just a whisper in the now actually dark room. The sun had left her position in the sky and hung now above the hills in the distance. Only his last rays found the way inside the tall building. They were reflected by the legs of the big table standing in the middle of the room, by Weiss' diadem lying on top of it, by Ruby's wet eyes as she hovered just inches above Weiss' face, resembled by her hand hovering over the button.

"I'm sorry, Weiss, I... I love you."

Their lips met.

The silent "click," resounding in the room was barely hearable.

* * *

Ruby stayed with her friend until the sun disappeared behind the trees, ensuring her friend had a safe journey. Only then did she slowly straighten herself from her hunched position and returned to the door.

"Goodbye," she sobbed as she turned one last time, standing in the doorway, looking back to her longtime friend ‒ no, best friend ‒ best friend forever...

Then she left, and the room fell completely silent, completely dark.

It began to snow. The moment Ruby stepped out of the building, she turned her head upwards, towards the stars looking for a new one.

She began to smile, then to sob, then to cry, tears flowing freely from her eyes down her face, piercing the snow on the floor. She began to move, leaving the house behind, walking to the trees.

A snowflake fell on her shoulder.


End file.
